Advertisement
AI advances ‘supercharge’ online disinformation, censorship and surveillance in growing threat to human rights, report warns
- Generative AI-based tools have been used in at least 16 countries to distort information on political or social issues, Freedom on Net report says
- By some estimates, AI-generated content could soon account for 99 per cent of all information online, overwhelming misinformation-detection systems
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are boosting online disinformation and enabling governments to increase censorship and surveillance in a growing threat to human rights, a US non-profit organisation said in a report published on Wednesday.
Advertisement
Global internet freedom declined for the 13th consecutive year, with China, Myanmar and Iran having the worst conditions of the 70 countries surveyed by the Freedom on the Net report, which highlighted the risks posed by easy access to generative AI technology.
AI allows governments to “enhance and refine online censorship” and amplify digital repression, making surveillance and the creation and spread of disinformation faster, cheaper and more effective, according to the annual report published by Freedom House.
“AI can be used to supercharge censorship, surveillance, and the creation and spread of disinformation,” said Michael J Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “Advances in AI are amplifying a crisis for human rights online.”
By some estimates, AI-generated content could soon account for 99 per cent or more of all information on the internet, overwhelming content moderation systems that are already struggling to keep up with the deluge of misinformation, according to tech experts.
Advertisement
Advertisement